iPhone 5 Coming to T-Mobile in Early 2013, Says Analyst

T-Mobile may finally get its day in the sun, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Nick Delfas. Without citing a source, or providing any supportive details, Delfas says that T-Mobile, the only of the big four carriers that doesn’t offer one of the industry’s most popular devices, will carry Apple’s iPhone 5 in “early 2013.”

T-Mobile has openly supported customers who use the iPhone on its network, but you can’t go into a local store and purchase the device outright. Delfas believes that if the carrier does start to carry the handset, Apple would be looking at an additional one to two million units sold in the immediate short term. In the long term, you’d definitely expect many more.

This isn’t the first analyst to suggest T-Mobile will get Apple’s iPhone. With the carrier actively expanding its LTE network, and the prospect of a MetroPCS merger looming, it might make sense for Apple to finally occupy the last carrier frontier here in the U.S. Android is constantly pushing forward with devices such as the Galaxy S III and Note II, so Apple’s iPhone 5 will need as much of an audience as it can get to stay ahead, or at least up with, the competition.